Wholesale

To the Editor: Let me see if I understand the situation. Gov. Tom Ridge said, "Simply put, serving alcohol is not a core function of government." However, he said Pennsylvania would remain the wholesale supplier to private liquor outlets. He said the state could not afford to get out of the wholesale business. Does that mean we will be able to buy any product we want if the producer just happens to maintain a "good relationship" with the powers that be? Nah, they wouldn't do that.

HARRISBURG — In an east Allentown industrial zone on Quebec Street north of Union Boulevard, 23 tanks rise high into the sky, the pipes that connect them running deep underground. This is a Petroleum Products Corp. fuel pipeline terminal. For a dozen years, the terminal and others like it across Pennsylvania have played a quiet role in the gasoline and diesel-fuel supply chain. As a wholesale distributor of gas and diesel, it's where retail gas stations buy their fuel in bulk, then truck it to their stations for sale to motorists.

John J. "Tootsie Roll Man" Cramsey, 89, of Allentown, died Saturday in his home. He was the husband of Leona A. (Faleski) Broderick Cramsey and the late Marie (Erich) Cramsey. He and his second wife were married 20 years in October. He formerly owned T&B Wholesale, a candy and tobacco wholesale business in Allentown, for six years before retiring in 1972. Before that he was a manager of the former Hunsicker Wholesale, Allentown, for 40 years. Born in Allentown, he was a son of the late James and Grace (McGonigal)

Allentown-based Lehigh Gas Partners has acquired $11.1 million in wholesale fuel-supply contracts in Richmond, Va. The acquisition consists of 45 independent dealer supply contracts, five supply contracts and other assets. The acquired supply contracts are primarily for branded motor fuels and the weighted average remaining term on the supply contracts is approximately nine years. This latest acquisition tops off a year of growth for the publicly-traded company. Lehigh Gas Partners, which specializes in operating, leasing and delivering wholesale fuel to gas stations, has a network of almost 800 gas station locations in 12 states including Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Elias Rosenberg, 87, of Broomall, Delaware County, formerly of Allentown and Sarasota, Fla., died Monday in Bryn Mawr Hospital. He was the husband of the late Ethel (Kramer) Rosenberg. Rosenberg, his son and late brothers were partners in the former Royal Wholesale Co., Allentown, until 1970. The company was founded by the brothers and their father. Born in Stiles, Rosenberg was a son of the late Max and Ida (Sofransky) Rosenberg. He was a member of Congregation Keneseth Israel, Allentown.

Jacob Becker, 77, of 361 Tilghman St., Allentown, died Saturday in his home. He and two deceased brothers, Louis and Samuel, operated the former Becker Brothers Wholesale Meat Co. in Allentown for 36 years until retiring in 1968. Born in Allentown, he was a son of the late Harry and Anna (Lubovsky) Becker. He was a member of Congregation Agudas Achim, Allentown. He served in the Army during World War II. Surviving are four sisters, Rose, Miriam, and Catherine, all at home, and Mrs. Sarah Feder of Allentown.

Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. will increase its wholesale electric rates by about 20 percent overall, starting March 4. The rate increase does not affect PP&L's 1 million retail residential, commercial and industrial customers. PP&L reached the settlement with 15 boroughs and an investor-owned utility that buy their power from PP&L and resell it to their customers. The amount of the increase will vary among customers, depending on how much electricity they use. The following is a list of boroughs in the The Morning Call circulation area and the amounts of their approximate annual increases: Weatherly, $147,000, an 18 percent increase; Quakertown, $577,000, 21 percent; Kutztown, $400,000, 23 percent; Perkasie, $288,000, 21 percent; Lehighton, $280,000, 21 percent, and Hatfield, $87,000, 16 percent.

In an effort to win votes, Gov. Tom Ridge is willing to rewrite portions of his liquor store privatization plan, including removing the state from the wholesale end of the business. "He does not have an adequate number of votes now to pass in the House of Representatives," said the chairman of the House Liquor Control Committee, Frank A. Serafini, R-Lackawanna. "He's questioning the members as to what problems there are in the bill and what it would take to change the privatization bill to get their votes."

HARRISBURG — A House panel approved a $1.9 billion transportation spending bill Thursday, moving forward on one of Gov. Tom Corbett's major budget priorities after three days of delays. The Transportation Committee modified an amendment introduced earlier in the week by Chairman Dick Hess, R-Bedford, that Democrats had opposed because they said it gutted funding for mass transit and hurt workers. The revised measure passed 16-9. In part it uncaps over five years a state wholesale gasoline tax that likely will increase prices at the pump and turn some Republicans against the bill when it comes up for a full vote.

Allentown's $220 million downtown arena, office and hotel complex looks to get a substantial boost from cigarette tax revenues. The boost comes in the form of taxes generated by City Center Wholesale, a cigarette and candy distributor relocated to the city's arena-financing Neighborhood Improvement Zone last year by hotel and office developer City Center Investment Corp. Revenue from City Center Wholesale, much of it expected to come from the state's $1.60-per-pack tax on cigarettes, is being counted on to cover almost a quarter of the overall development cost for the complex, according to documents obtained by The Morning Call through an open records request.

Arena developers aren't saying how much tobacco tax money will help build the development around Allentown's hockey arena complex, but they admit it's so much money that the cigarette-selling wholesale company generating it is forbidden from ever leaving the arena tax zone. City Center Wholesale, a cigarette wholesaler headquartered in Allentown's Neighborhood Improvement Zone, will be held hostage in the zone until the city pays off the loans it needs to build its $158 million hockey arena for the minor league Phantoms.

I wish Sen. Pat Browne would push for complete sale of the liquor control business. The state of Pennsylvania should sell both wholesale and retail licenses. Every time I see this concept proposed, the state liquor store union that represents 3,500 employees howls and the state Senate or House caves in. I have lived in three states that have private liquor sales, and I have never witnessed higher incidents of alcohol consumption in these states than here in Pennsylvania. People act similarly in alcohol consumption in every state that I've lived in. Habits of people do not change.

If the state Legislature adopts recommendations of Gov. Tom Corbett's Transportation Funding Advisory Commission, drivers likely would pay a few cents more for a gallon of gasoline, and higher registration, license and other vehicle-related fees. They would register their cars every two years instead of annually, and those tiny license plate stickers would be eliminated to save money and allow for online renewals. Driver's license renewals would be every eight years rather than every four, and private companies would be authorized to administer tests to new drivers.

Higher gas costs pushed wholesale prices higher in October for the fourth straight month. The cost of gas increased by the most since January, and that has translated into higher prices at the pump. In the Lehigh Valley, regular gasoline averages $2.93 a gallon, up 21 cents from a year ago, according to AAA. The national regular gasoline price is $2.89 a gallon, up 26 cents from a year ago. The Labor Department said Tuesday that the Producer Price Index rose 0.4 percent last month, the same increase as September and August.

More than $1,900 in cigarettes, cigars and baseball cards were stolen Thursday from a truck owned by an Allentown wholesale company. The driver of the truck, Jeff Cramsey of 733 Whitehall St. in Allentown, told police yesterday that 90 cartons of Doral cigarettes, 10 cartons of assorted cigarettes, two boxes of assorted cigars, along with several boxes of Upper Deck baseball cards were stolen from a truck owned by T&B Wholesale of 711 Linden St.,...

Lehigh University's Stabler Arena looked festive yesterday as Sky Bros., Inc., opened its two-day annual food and equipment show. Thousands of customers and invited guests were expected to sample delicacies from more than a hundred vendors. The Altoona-based wholesale food distributor has a facility in Allentown.

PPL Corp. has agreed to sell its Long Island generation business to J-Power USA Development for about $135 million, the company announced Friday. The deal consists of PPL Edgewood Energy, a 79.9-megawatt natural gas-fired electric generation facility in Brentwood, N.Y., and PPL Shoreham Energy, a 79.9-megawatt oil-fired electric generation facility in Brookhaven, N.Y. The output of both facilities is contracted to the Long Island Power Authority....

The crowds of customers have thinned at the Federal Grill and Cigar Bar in recent months and the prices the restaurant pays for its goods, from steaks to breads, have increased. Owner Iris Konia has altered the menu with more affordable dishes and launched promotions, attempting to entice customers whose household budgets are squeezed by rising gas prices and food inflation. "Its a difficult situation here," Konia said. "Things have skyrocketed and you hesitate and don't want to raise prices, but in some instances we have had to."